Compund Angle Identities and proof

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on proving the equation \(\frac{sin(A-B)}{cos(A)cos(B)}+\frac{sin(B-C)}{cos(B)cos(C)}+\frac{sin(C-A)}{cos(C)cos(A)}=0\) using compound angle identities. The user successfully simplified the expression to \(\frac{sin(A)cos(B)-cos(A)sin(B)}{cos(A)cos(B)}+\frac{sin(B)cos(C)-cos(B)sin(C)}{cos(B)cos(C)}+\frac{sin(C)cos(A)-cos(C)sin(A)}{cos(C)cos(A)}=0\) and identified that the first term resolves to \(tan(A)-tan(B)\). The discussion emphasizes the importance of splitting fractions to simplify the proof further.

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  • Understanding of trigonometric identities, specifically compound angle identities.
  • Familiarity with the tangent function and its properties.
  • Basic algebraic manipulation of fractions.
  • Experience with mathematical proof techniques.
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  • Study the derivation of compound angle identities in trigonometry.
  • Learn how to simplify trigonometric expressions using algebraic techniques.
  • Explore the properties of the tangent function and its relation to sine and cosine.
  • Practice proving trigonometric identities through various methods.
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Students studying trigonometry, mathematics educators, and anyone interested in mastering trigonometric proofs and identities.

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Homework Statement


prove using the compound angle identies, proove the following:
<br /> \frac{sin(A-B)}{cos(A)cos(B)}+\frac{sin(B-C)}{cos(B)cos(C)}+\frac{sin(C-A)}{cos(C)cos(A)}=0<br />

Homework Equations


n/a

The Attempt at a Solution


I resolved it to
<br /> \frac{sin(A)cos(B)-cos(A)sin(B)}{cos(A)cos(B)}+\frac{sin(B)cos(C)-cos(B)sin(C)}{cos(B)cos(C)}+\frac{sin(C)cos(A)-cos(C)sin(A)}{cos(C)cos(A)}=0<br />

And using wolfram alpha I found that the first term resolves to tan(A)-tan(B) and then I can see how it equals zero as all the tans would cancel out.

But I have no idea how each term simplifies to that.

Any help is really appreciated.

thanks.
 
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After you have expanded the numerators with the addition formulae (which you have done), you can simplify each fraction by taking out a factor.
 
In each fraction, you have something of the form

\frac{a+b}{c}

You should always check if splitting up the fraction into

\frac{a}{c}+\frac{b}{c}

could help you in any way. In this case, it does.
 

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